Hi! We are Swordfish FIP.
FRIGOLAB SANMATEO, PROPEMAR, and TRANSMARINA work together to achieve Marine Stewardship Council certification for the fishery.
This Fishery Improvement Project builds on the results of the MSC Pre-Assessment of the swordfish (Xiphias gladius) longline fishery carried out by independent consultant Cynthia Fernandez in March 2019.
The fishing grounds of the Ecuadorian artisanal large pelagic fishery are located between 05°00’N and 15°00’S, and up to the 100°00’W meridian of the Galapagos archipelago. Ecuadorian artisanal fisheries are multi-species fisheries that operate throughout the year and are defined by two main seasons related to the targeted large pelagic fish species. One is mainly oriented towards mahi-mahi fishing and the other includes tuna, billfishes, and sharks.
Principles of our work
In this pre-assessment, two Units of Certification (UoC) were identified:
UoC: Industrial and Artisanal Ecuadorian longline fleet (Nodrizas):
This fishery started gradually in the mid-1970s, but experienced a major expansion during the 1990s and 2000s. The traditional fishing areas, which were initially less than 40 m from the coast, have gradually expanded over the years to 1,400 m from the mainland coast, passing through the Galapagos archipelago, establishing what is now known as the «oceanic-artisanal fishery» in Ecuador.
Our experience
We wanted to improve our fishery practices to high sustainable standards.
